Universal Language

At the Universidad Reformada, I had the opportunity to participate in their community orchestra for Christmas concerts.  This was the one place where I could fully participate even without knowing the Spanish language - the language of music crosses all borders.  The university students I played with were wonderful.  Most students played on instruments purchased by the university, and none that I met had been playing longer than 5 years.  We rehearsed a few times each week at the university and performed several times for university events and concerts around the city.  The chamber ensemble performed for the university graduation, at the orchestra concerts, and at an outdoor festival.  The orchestra concerts included two large concerts with a combined chorus from the university, the Colegio Americano, and other smaller choirs.  We performed one concert at the Immaculate Conception Cathedral and another concert at a bustling mall next door to the Colegio Americano.  This mall was built on property previously owned by the colegio, and the colegio retains the right to use small sections inside the mall.  After the combined concerts with the choirs, the chamber ensemble performed an outdoor concert at a Christmas Festival.


Even though the Universidad Reformada has been educating students for  several years in Theological Studies, the other focus areas are relatively new.  This year's graduation that took place in early December welcomed the first class of Psychology Majors into the ranks.  Professional Music and International Business are the other two programs currently admitting students, and the university is in the process of adding a program for Industrial Engineering.  Every time I performed with the orchestra, I thought, "This is GREAT publicity for the burgeoning university!"

Feliz Dia De Las Velitas

 

Advent and Christmas in Barranquilla differ from Advent and Christmas in the United States in fewer ways than I expected.  Sure, by my typical "United Statesian" standards, December is not a cold month (there are NO cold months) here, that's for sure.  Otherwise, you've got the festive decorations in every store, choirs and orchestras playing carols in cathedrals and malls, and a night for lighting the city's Christmas lights.  In Medellin, we saw the city-sponsored decorations throughout the city.  


Here in Barranquilla, one tradition,  Dia de Las Velitas, includes families gathering for a whole night of fun and dancing.  At 3 a.m., children often blow out the candles that have burning through the night.  My cultural education for the evening included "immersion" dance lessons.  For the night at least, I learned the difference between salsa, merengue, cumbia,  and vallenato.  Cumbia and vallenato are unique to Colombia, particularly the Caribbean coastal region, with variations in Panama.  


The evening was more evidence that despite the decades of violence and fear woven into life in Colombia, or perhaps as a way to balance it, the Colombians we meet are relentlessly happy.  Never naive, always cognizant, and resolute on enjoying life.  

Welcome to California

No, not the state of California in the U.S. - a region of Colombia in the Gulf of Urabá that is called California.  I arrived in Barranquilla late on a Thursday evening, and at 4 a.m. Friday morning, we (the 3 other accompaniers, the accompaniment coordinator, and I) were on the road for a 14-hour car trip south. 

These photos illustrate the adventure and the wonderful people.  Words feel weak in my attempt to share the somber realities of life in California.  We passed through a government checkpoint to enter the region, and I learned that the area is considered a red zone by the Colombian government.  The area is known to be controlled by a paramilitary group, and it was decidedly calm....but not peaceful.  Later, we were given more specifics: coca (the crop which is chemically treated to form cocaine...much like methamphetamine) is grown by paramilitaries in this area; the bench we sat on to watch the pick-up softball game is directly in front of a house occupied by a paramilitary planted in the community; and, everyone we met has been displaced at least once by violence in their community. 

After the retreat in California, we visited small churches in various communities.   In each village, we met remarkable men and women.  Chigorodó is a small community made up almost entirely of displaced families.  Several church members raise and sell pigs and chickens as a result of a grant from the Presbyterian Church (USA).  One church leader shared details of a guerrilla takeover of his town several years ago.  For three days, he and his family were trapped under a bed because of dangerous crossfire.  

In these communities that welcome us as family, the generosity abounds and individuals exude a peace that matches the tranquil earthen landscape and not the tumultuous human environment. 

My Piece of History: I helped make it happen!!

Here's a play by play of my amazing week in D.C. for President Obama's Inauguration.

Thursday late evening: arrive in D.C.

My friend Amy from high school was kind enough to offer a place to stay and picked me up from the airport, too! (Since my flight arrived after the Metro stopped running.) I hadn't met her roommate Alexander yet, but he was so sweet to make a bed for me before I arrived.

Friday: leisurely day.

The full gravitas of the experience hadn't quite settled into the city yet, and none of my cohort out-of-towners had arrived. My Metro stop was on the red line, and conveniently, most of my engagements were also on the red line. I walked around Dupont Circle a bit, found an indulgent (and warm) vegan cafe, and ended the day hanging out with Amrita, a college friend I hadn't seen since 2003. It was so great to see her again! We walked to dinner then to her place where she made the most delicious vegan hot chocolate. Ok, the magic touch was probably the Ghiradelli (vegan) chocolate chips that "spilled" into the cocoa. But having a readily available vegan option for hot chocolate was freakin' awesome! Friday's theme so far: coming out of vegan exile. HAH!

Actually, the REALLY fantastic part of Friday was catching up with Amrita. Her post-college exploration resembles mine somewhat - minus the teaching elementary school thing. She's had a few jobs that were great in ways and not so great in others. She's done her share of wandering around Europe. And now she works for an organization that helps Asian/Pacific Islander victims of domestic violence. She helped me appreciate being in a city other than the mainline NGO hubs like D.C. and NYC.

Saturday: still easing into full gear.

At the time, I saw Saturday as a day for recuperation because Friday was COLD. Apparently, it was the coldest day in D.C. in five years. It took me until Sunday before I finally got on board with the two-layered pants strategy. After sleeping in a bit, I decided to walk around again. But alas, once again, I landed in a warm cafe with a nice view until the time arrived for my dinner with the rest of the ASC crew. I was skeptical about the restaurant when I paid $4.50 for tea and saw the four course dinner option for $44/person. BUT, it turned out to be a brilliant location. One of the planners had heard it turned into a club late at night, and lo and behold, it did. We debated going elsewhere to party but decided to stay put and had a blast. Check out photos on facebook. Then! When we were really tired and left, we discovered the real value of the evening. We discovered that the cover charge to get in our dinner club was $20! SCORE! HAH!

Sunday: the real beginning

Sunday marked the official start of Inaguration Week with the We Are One concert at the Lincoln Memorial. I went with Amy, Alexander, and Kim (Amy's cousin). We collectively agreed NOT to arrive at 9am for a 2:30pm concert. Instead, we were in line by about 1pm and then directed to the "jumbo-tron" viewing area around 2pm. The numbers I heard estimated 300,000 people in the secure area and at least 750,000 people total. We had fun. This was our firsthand introduction to the concepts: "Yay! Crowds are warm!" and "Yes, I know you're just passing through and not trying to stand in front of me, but you're increasing airflow and moving my portable heaters (people) away from me."

Right around the time U2 came on stage, I realized I was hearing more famous artists live in one concert than I've probably heard in my whole lifetime. (the real live music highlight comes on Tuesday) Because I'm a concert snob who doesn't like paying $50+ for concert tickets. Granted, they each sang about one song, and none of the songs were originals. Whatever, it was cool. AND this was my first time hearing Obama and Biden live, except on conference calls.

Sunday continued with a Missouri Obama Staff Reunion. The fantastic part was hanging out with my MO people, Werks, Jonae, Amber, meeting Jarvis and Jonae's sister (shoot! can't remember her name), and seeing the GA organizers, too, Sarah and Justin. The glitch came early when we discovered that the official MO Reunion location was a 21 and up bar. Two of our organizers are 18 and 19, so the bar was a no go. We tried to find a restaurant with seating for eight, contemplated hanging at Amber's hotel, but eventually landed at a McD's instead. I voiced my frustration to our state director in a crisp email. If we had known ahead of time that the MO Reunion location was a bar, then we could have PLANNED, made a reservation elsewhere for our group at a restaurant for all ages or SOMETHING. Impromptu plans with eight people don't work AT ALL. Seeing everyone and hanging out, though, that was awesome.

Monday: the calm before the storm

What did I do Monday? I'm not sure I remember. Oh yeah, this was my first big walking day. AND, I forgot an important development from Saturday night. I found the most grateful recipient of my extra Inauguration ticket: Nayadin. Nayadin and I did our education courses and student teaching together at ASC. Unlike me, though, she actually likes teaching and stuck with it. She came up to D.C. from Atlanta without a ticket, like tons of other people, just for the awesome experience. When she heard I had a spare - she pounced! Kidding, not really, but she was really excited. So we decided meeting up Tuesday would be our attempt, but we knew there would be no guarantee. We met up Monday to hang out and for me to give her the coveted ticket.

Back to the walking. After I gave the ticket to Nayadin, we went to lunch and walked around with a couple of her friends, Lauren and ????? (darn it, there I go again forgetting a name. that's what I get for waiting 3 days before blogging). Anyway, the guy friend suggested we walk over the Key Bridge to Georgetown to see MANIFESTHOPE:DC. That exhibit blew me away! To paraphrase a comment from the exhibit's website, isn't it amazing to have a series of art inspired by our president as compared to the last eight years during which most people were embarrassed by our president?

Tuesday: are YOU ready?

I spent Monday night hanging out with Amy, Alexander, and Kim at their condo, so we could all rise at 3 A.M. for the big day. Yes, it was early, and yes, it was worth it. As the eager beaver, I walked to the metro station in time to be there when it opened at 4 A.M. But alas, the crowd of us had to wait 'til 4:15 before they opened the gates. No big deal, I got on that first train and made it to my designated security checkpoint metro, Judiciary Square on 4th St. NW, by 5am. Once off the train, I had to navigate the crowds and streets to find my actual line at the intersection of Constitution Ave. and First St. NW My first mistake was easy to correct. I saw that the street I wanted to walk down was blocked off, I decided to follow a crowd down an interstate tunnel to circumvent the blocked street. However, when I saw an exit sign for 2nd St. SW, I sensed trouble. I confirmed with an officer and turned right around. No worries, I still arrived at my "Purple Ticket Line" by about 5:30am. Or so I thought. At this point, it did cross my mind that I was again following a crowd without gathering my own information. However, this line was growing rapidly enough that leaving it to explore other options would have cost me greatly.

When Nayadin found me in line, I was so grateful for her warmth and company that I didn't even think about one of us going to explore other line possibilities. Four hours later......having moved about a block and heard no official updates on entry status, one of our line buddies climbed on a guy's shoulders and reported that the people gaining entry were in a completely different line, which was quite far away. So it wasn't until 10:30 a.m. that we abandoned our line to make our way to what we hoped would be the line to our entrance. Keep in mind that moving an inch in a direction different from where the crowd was headed was near impossible. People were amazingly happy and polite, but no one likes being pushed.

Once we were in the new line, we were inside within an hour! That security gate was mayhem! As soon as we passed through the metal detectors, everyone sprinted. We bombarded through the porta-johns trying to get to our new crowd and realize we could see nor hear anything substantial. It was SO amazing to finally be inside!

And then we noticed Nayadin's blackberry was gone. We went back to security, hopeful but not successful. When we returned, we decided to stay out of the crowd, so we could hear better. Within moments, they were announcing Izhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma, Gabriella Montero, and Anthony McGill who played an arrangement by John Williams, "Air and Simple Gifts." That was beautiful! Then, even though I couldn't see or hear the oath at the time, hearing the cannons and watching the officers ride through the crowd.....I was so moved. I'm sure everyone has heard President Obama's speech by now. I loved it.

The rest of Tuesday blurs together. We scattered pretty quickly after the speech, I missed the benediction. When I got back to my metro stop, I ate, and then got a text message back from the good samaritan who found Nayadin's phone. What a relief! I went to retrieve the phone, returned it to Nayadin, and went to sleep as soon as I got home. That return trip was also the only time I took a taxi instead of walking the mile home from the metro. I thoroughly enjoyed the walking, but by about 6pm on Tuesday, I was exhausted.

Wednesday: no time to recuperate, it's time to PARTY

I guess I slept in a little bit, compared to Tuesday, but it sure didn't feel like it. I met up with my MO crew again, and then I went to April's to get ready for the Staff Ball. April's another ASC friend who lives in D.C. She lives close to Reagan National Airport, so she offered to drop me off Thursday morning. She also came to the Staff Ball with me, which was awesome. The Staff Ball had amazing food, even more amazing music (Arcade Fire and Jay-Z), and more wonderful speeches from Joe and Barack. Very inspiring!!!! And of course, we were too excited to go to sleep without catching up and too tired to talk as long as we wanted.

Oh, what a wonderful week! A once in a lifetime experience!

Trekkin'

Here I am in Amman, Jordan. We arrived yesterday evening around 6pm local time. That's 11am EST. We visited Jerash today, one of the Roman Decapolis, and my first archeaological ruins. I learned that 20% of the ancient city has been excavated while the other 80% waits buried for the millions of dollars required to fund digs. For more detailed blogging on this day as well as the rest of my trip, check out the group blog posted daily on AJC Travel Blog. I will blog my own unique experience and especially post pictures as I can.

V-Day: Reclaiming Peace 2007

I went to Atlanta's V-Day event at the Tabernacle on Thursday night, and it was fantastic! The performers were very impressive: hilarious, poignant, touching, tragic, all of it. As a volunteer, I got to hear Eve Ensler speak briefly at the VIP reception immediately preceding the show. Her message was clear and intentional that V-Day's goal of empowering women means sharing power with men, NOT dominating, eliminating, controlling, taking over, or oppressing men. I like the eight statements of the V-Day Mission.

V-Day is an organized response against violence toward women.

V-Day is a vision. We see a world where women live safely and freely.

V-Day is a demand: Rape, incest, battery, genital mutilation and sexual slavery must end now.

V-Day is a spirit: We believe women should spend their lives creating and thriving rather than surviving or recovering from terrible atrocities.

V-Day is a catalyst: By raising money and consciousness, it will unify and strengthen existing anti-violence efforts. Triggering far-reaching awareness, it will lay the groundwork for new educational, protective, and legislative endeavors throughout the world.

V-Day is a process: We will work as long as it takes. We will not stop until the violence stops.

V-Day is a day. We proclaim Valentine's Day as V-Day, to celebrate women and end the violence.

V-Day is a fierce, wild, upstoppable movement and community. Join us!

V-Day stands for Victory, Valentine, and Vagina. To date, the movement has raised over $40 million and educated millions about the issue of violence against woman and the efforts to end it. This is more than any other anti-violence campaign in the world.

Part of the process of empowering women is providing an opportunity, sometimes prodding women to speak, to tell their stories. Eve Ensler's book, The Vagina Monologues, was that platform: for many of the women, the first time they'd spoken of their trauma, shame, or disgust associated with their vagina. Ms. Ensler travelled the country interviewing women of all ages to hear and record their stories. When pain is experienced and then buried, the healing process is delayed, the scar deepens. On the flip side, when we see and hear others who have felt and experienced similar hurts, we understand that we aren't alone, the violence wasn't our fault, and it doesn't have to continue. Upon ourselves or others.

For me, that's what V-Day is about: raising awareness, so that someday soon, no woman feels trapped or silenced in a violent situation, and so that increasing numbers of men feel liberated to demonstrate to other men how to relate and behave toward women and all people in respectful, non-dominating, non-agressive manners. We all take rebuke more seriously when it comes from "one of our own kind."

Furthermore, violence includes more than just physical harm. Taken from the Men Stopping Violence website,

"You don't have to hit someone to batter that person. Many people think that battering is defined by how many times a man hits a woman. In fact, many men who complete our (MSV) six-month batterers program have never physically struck a woman. What they have done, however, is struck fear in a woman by using a wide range of controlling and abusive behaviors over a sustained period of time."

My Story

Tonight was the viewing of V-Day: Until the Violence Stops, a documentary about the V-Day movement started by Eve Engler, at Charis Bookstore in L5P, sponsored by Charis Circle and Men Stopping Violence. Facts come from V-Day.org and the Family Violence Prevention Fund. Coming up:

V-Day Atlanta GA

As part of the 2007 V-Day Worldwide Campaign, Atlanta GA is proud to present a benefit production of The Vagina Monologues to raise awareness and funds for local organizations working to end violence against women and girls.

5 April 2007 - 7:30 PM
With Special Guest Doria Roberts

Venue: Tabernacle

152 Luckie Street NW
Atlanta, Georgia 30303

Fact: 28 Central African countries practice female genital mutilation on girls, usually between the ages of 4 and 12.

Fact: There are 3 types of FGM: clitoridectomy, the amputation of the clitoris; excision of the labia minora as well as the clitoris; and infibulation, the removal all external genitalia including the labia majora, after which the edges of the wound are stitched together, allowing for only a tiny opening. In Somali custom, prior to a girl's marriage, the best man uses a bull's horn to re-open the stitching for her husband.

Fact: The clitoris is a bundle of 8,000 nerves, the most nerves in a single location in the human body, male or female.

Fact: During WWII, Japanese soldiers were given "comfort women" on the battle field. These were South Asian civilians who were forced into military sex slavery between 1932 and 1945. Many women have been shunned from their children after speaking out seeking justice, compensation, an apology from the Japanese government.

Fact: Around the world, at least one in every three women has been beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused during her lifetime.

Fact: Nearly one-third of American women (31 percent) report being physically or sexually abused by a husband or boyfriend at some point in their lives, according to a 1998 Commonwealth Fund survey.

Manhater? I hate cultures and societies that tolerate, condone, and promote violence against women, children, minorities, marginalized, ANYONE.

I have been encouraged to reconsider my sexual orientation based on, among other choices, my decision to sometimes NOT shave.

I have been asked: Are you a lesbian? Because I chose to attend a women's college. Because I claim my freedom to defy society's or anyone's definition of what makes me feminine or womanly. I choose to create, modify, and uphold my own images of beauty and sex appeal.

Are you a manhater? Because I wear a shirt that says about my alma mater, Agnes Scott College, "Not a girls' school without men, but a women's college without boys."

And these questions never come from strangers. They come from friends, people who know me!